Education appears to protect older adults, especially women, against memory loss, according to a study by investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center, published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition.

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Millions of people around the world over the age of 70 are taking at least one medication every day that is causing them more harm than good, leading to falls, confusion, hospitalisation and even death.

Most people in their 50s and older were capable home cooks just before COVID-19 struck America, but only 5% had ordered groceries online, according to a new national poll. The cooking skills that enabled half of older adults to eat dinner at home six or seven days a week may have served them well during the height of the pandemic, the poll suggests. However, they may need added support for grocery shopping as the pandemic continues and older adults seek to avoid COVID-19.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.

Researchers provide the “purr-fect” solution to comfort and engage older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias (ADRD) during the pandemic – interactive robotic cats. Designed to respond to motion, touch and sound, these robotic pets offer an alternative to traditional pet therapy. Robotic pets are usually given to people with ADRD, but data has shown that using them to decrease social isolation for older adults is highly successful.

Regions of Italy with higher family fragmentation and a high number of residential nursing homes experienced the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in people over age 80, according to a new study published May 21, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Giuseppe Liotta of the University of Rome, Italy, and colleagues.

ANN ARBOR—Nursing home residents and workers account for about one-third of COVID-19 deaths in the United States, so far, according to media reports.Sheria Robinson-Lane, a gerontologist and assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, is an expert in palliative and long-term care and nursing administration.

Having a strong social network of friends and family can have a positive impact on people’s emotional and physical well-being, particularly for those 65 and older. IU researchers are now studying how the pandemic has disrupted those social connections for older adults.

With the pandemic disrupting our everyday lives, routine errands have become challenging for seniors and others who run a high-risk of developing a serious COVID-19 infection. But there's one routine they should not let lapse: refilling medications.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc with the nation’s food supply and economy, one in seven adults between the ages of 50 and 80 already had trouble getting enough food because of cost or other issues, a new poll finds.

A Maryland Taskforce on Vulnerable Populations for COVID-19 this week began implementing a data-driven approach to identifying communities and individuals at highest risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19. They are using this data and mapping to guide the deployment of outreach and resources to vulnerable populations including homeless, elderly living in congregate dwellings and those with limited healthcare access.
This is a unique approach to battling COVID-19 that could be adopted nationally.

Researchers at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research have developed a new assessment tool that could help predict whether older Chinese adults will experience self-neglect.

Older men who have lower lean body mass as they age are more prone to developing diabetes, while similar findings were not found in older women, according to a new study published in Journal of the Endocrine Society.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every Tuesday throughout the duration of the outbreak.

The global pandemic has severely impacted every American, but maybe none more than older people. COVID-19 has placed a high-intensity spotlight on the deleterious effects of deep-seated ageism, sexism and racism on older Americans, suggests a new paper from the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at Washington University in St.

In a new animal study examining Alzheimer’s disease, researchers found that disease progression could be slowed by decreasing neuroinflammation in the brain before memory problems and cognitive impairment were apparent.

New data suggests that Michigan nursing homes that responded to a survey were far better prepared for this pandemic than they were for the last one. The study includes responses from 130 nursing homes to a survey performed during the week the state announced its first documented case of COVID-19.

National Eye Institute (NEI) researchers profiling epigenomic changes in light-sensing mouse photoreceptors have a clearer picture of how age-related eye diseases may be linked to age-related changes in the regulation of gene expression. The findings, published online April 21 in Cell Reports, suggest that the epigenome could be targeted as a therapeutic strategy to prevent leading causes of vision loss, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Among the confounding aspects of the novel coronavirus is the wide range of disease severity patients experience. While a minority of COVID-19 patients require hospitalization, the effects of infection for these people are dramatic and in some cases life threatening.

Physical fitness and social connection can be difficult to maintain in old age. But new research published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) may promote exercise, improve quality of life and deepen familial ties between grandparents and grandchildren.

Early reports suggest the case fatality rate for those over 80, which constitutes nearly half of nursing home residents, is more than 15 percent. In areas where there is a shortage of ICU beds and respirators, even the most carefully thought out ethical approaches to rationing these resources will place older patients at a lower priority. Nursing homes must be prepared to manage patients who have had or have COVID-19 infection.

In the Fall of 2019, The John A. Hartford Foundation awarded a three-year, $1.6M grant entitled, Moving and Scaling Home-Based Primary Care Phase II: Quality, Training and Advocacy.
The project aims to improve care for the more than two million older adults who are the “invisible homebound” with functional impairments and frailty. This phase builds on the success of the initial grant phase, with the same organizations leading three complementary grants.
While each organization has its own unique deliverables, they continue to work in close collaboration to achieve the overall goal ─ increasing access to high quality, home-based primary care that leads to improved outcomes for both patients and caregivers.

Active older veterans fall more often than their more sedentary peers who never served in the armed forces, but they're less likely to injure themselves when they do, says a University of Michigan researcher.

According to a recent analysis of data from two major eye disease studies, adherence to the Mediterranean diet – high in vegetables, whole grains, fish, and olive oil – correlates with higher cognitive function.

A study examining MW189 in healthy adult volunteers was performed by a collaborative team from the University of Kentucky, Duke University and Northwestern University. The work by Van Eldik and the rest of the team is substantial as it is the first time MW189 had been tested in humans.